Image details: Tony Stewart’s Prelude to the Dream served by picapp.com

Every year he puts on the annual “Prelude to the Dream” race at the track that he owns, Eldora Speedway, but for the first time, Tony Stewart can call himself the winner of his own event. After the qualifying heats tore up several cars, Stewart went onto dominate the 30-lap feature, after which he and his crew promptly climbed the fence.

The event included several of NASCAR’s top-reigning stars in addition to Stewart, to include two-time defending Sprint Cup Series champion, Jimmie Johnson; four-time Cup champ, Jeff Gordon; Carl Edwards; Kasey Kahne; Kevin Harvick; Matt Kenseth; JGR teammates, Kyle Busch and Denny Hamlin; and a slieu of others.

Inclimate weather from this past weekend that carried over into the early parts of the week left the dirt track wet and, as some described it, lightning fast. Stewart was apologetic for not being able to get the track in better condition for his guests, stating that it was a little rough for the dirt late models they were racing.

Robby Gordon finished runner-up to Stewart in the race, with Clint Bowyer, Kenny Wallace, and Denny Hamlin following behind to round out the feature race’s top-five finishers. Following the race, Stewart presented Kyle Petty with a check for $1 million in support of the Victory Junction Camp II, which is being built near Kansas City.

Post from: EveryJoe

Stewart Wins the Dream

Image details: Nextel Prelude To The Dream served by picapp.com

If you thought it was bad sitting through the rain delay that slowed down the action this past Saturday for the Nationwide’s Heluva Good! 200 at Dover International Speedway, then you’re not the only one feeling the anguish that Mother Nature can put on racing events.

Fullthrottle.com has reported that rainy skies have delayed – or, in some cases altogether postponed – racing events across the nation this past week.  The Tri-Track Challenge Series that takes place at Paducah International Raceway, Macon Speedway, and I-55 Raceway probably felt the weather a bit more than most.

After the first leg of the Tri-Track Challenge on Friday was won by Ken Schrader at Paducah with a last lap pass over second place finisher, Jason Feger, the second race – held at I-55 scheduled for Saturday, May 31st - was rained out just prior to the hotlaps, and they have re-scheduled the event for August 2nd. The third event – held in Macon, IL – was also delayed by rain, though they eventually got that race underway. 

As if all that rain weren’t enough for Schrader, he was again slated to run on Tuesday at the Iowa Sate Fairgrounds along with fellow NASCAR driver, Kenny Wallace, but that, too, was halted by some nasty weather. That race has been re-scheduled for June 16th.

Wednesday evening will bring the annual running of the Prelude to the Dream race held at Eldora Speedway in Ohio. The event will feature a myriad of NASCAR stars, including Tony Stewart, Kevin Harvick, Jimmie Johnson, Jeff Gordon, Kyle Busch, Carl Edwards, Denny Hamlin, Matt Kenseth, Kasey Kahne, and others.

For more information on this story, as well as message from Ken and Ann Schrader, please read Where in the World are Wallace and Schrader? over at Full Throttle.

Post from: EveryJoe

Rain Puts a Damper on Racing Across the Country